YOLANDA

CRISTIAN CARRETERO

Dominican Republic | 2013 | 14 mins

“YOLANDA” – A single mother struggles to raise her children in the poverty stricken outskirts of Santo Domingo. She soon decides to risk it all and illegally immigrate in the search of a better life.

About Cristian

Cristian Carretero is originally from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. He graduated with his bachelors degree from Sarah Lawrence College. In 2014, he graduated with an MFA in filmmaking from New York University. He works as a director and cinematographer in both New York and Puerto Rico, primarily with the film production company, “Ludic Experiment,” which he founded with Lorraine Jones, in 2009.

In 2009, his short film “The Spot,” won the Best Short Film and Best Actor award at Cinefiesta Film Festival in Puerto Rico. In 2013, he made the short film “Yolanda,” which won Best Short Film at the Festival de Cine Global Dominicano and then in 2014, at the Screen Loud Film Festival in NYC, the short traveled the world in the film circuit. His next short, “This Island,” won Best Short Film by a unanimous decision at the 5to Festival de Cine Europeo (2014, PR). In 2016 he wrote and directed a short film shot in Harlem, New York, titled “The Ticket,” which debuted in the Habana Film Festival.

He recently received two Emmy Awards for the documentary “Semillas,” and the science show Laboratorio de Comunicaciones Científicas, which both aired in Puerto Rican local TV channel WIPR.